Case for filing systems.



S. E. WEBBER.

CASE FOR FlLING SYSTEMS.

1 now FILED MAR. 29. I915 APL A 1,279,621'. Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

UNITED STATES rarnntronnion.

sILAsE. WEBBER, or OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

CASE FOR FILING SYSTEMS.

' and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing,

forming a part of this SpeClfiCEtUOIL.

My invention relates to improvements in cases for filing systems.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a filing caseparticularly adaptable to serve in a system embracing both live and deadstorage. 1

Further objects of my invention are to provide such a filing case thatmakes possible very great economy in time, labor and expense of use andone that is economical to manufacture, especiall in view of systemsusing vast quantities 0 filing receptacles.

Additional objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the appended claims.

I have described in the following specification and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, a filing case constructed in accordance with myinvention, it being understood that changes maybe made'in the form, ar-

rangement and construction of the parts without departing from thespirit of the in-' vention or exceeding the scope of the appendedclaims, the form of the invention herein described being one preferredembodinient thereof.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the case with slidefollower in place;

Fig. 2 is across-sectional view, the section being taken on the line 2-2of Fig. 1, look ing in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3. is a similar view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings the filing case is in the general form of atopless rectangular box. It is made up of two side pieces 5, a rear endpiece 6, front piece 7 and bottom 8, all formed from thin sheet metalsuch as sheet tin. 'The bottom piece 8 has a flange or flap 9 on eitherside which is turned back upon itself (Fig. 2). The side pieces 5 eachhave a flange 10 which is turned inwardly, up and back upon itself,around the back turned flange 9 of the bottom so that the Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24,1918.

Application filed March 29, 1915. Serial No. 17,660.

flange 9 is held between the two turns of the flange 10 and the lastturn of the latter is.

it is light and strong.

The front piece 7 is cut away along the top, as shown in Fig. 1, so thatthe first card or paper may readily be recognized when the cases arefiled'one upon another or set in pigeon-holes and the like. It also hasa knob or handle 11 soldered or otherwise secured -to the case by whichthe case may readily be drawn out from its recess or pigeon-hole if so.placed.-

All the top edges are beaded over as shown at 12. to provide roundednon-cutting edges.

A11 ad ustably movable slide follower is provided for use with the casewhen the latter is utilized'for live filing, or in fact, for any usewhen the case is to hold less than substantially its total capacity ofcards or papers. This follower comprises a piece 13 angular position. Itis beaded over as at 14 of thin sheet metal suchas tin, about as high atthe top to present a rounded edge and at the bottom a portion of thesheet is turned .out at substantially right angles to form a supportingfoot 15 which slldes along the bottom of the box as the follower ismoved.

One function of this slide follower is to serve as a rigid back for thecards or papers filed when there is less than approximately fullcapacity. To perform this function the follower may be locked, in amultitude of positions, by means of lockin bars 16, These are formedfrom strips 0 thin sheet metal and slide through fiat staples 17 which.are formed by punching out the metal of the follower 13, in themanner'of an ordinary bolt. The metal strips formin these locking bars,at the inner ends of the bolt portions, are bent outwardly at an angleof substantially to form handle portions 18. It

will be seen that these handles18 face each other, the locking barsextending outwardly at either side, and between the handles, to forcethe locking bars outwardly into locking position, is a coiledspring 19,each end of which is secured to one of the handles 18. The outwardmovement of the locking bars,

with a block 20 formed by punching out the.

nietalof the follower.

The locking bars 16, which under the force of'the spring 19, normallyextend somewhat beyond the sides of the follower, en-

gage teeth to normally prevent backward movement of the follower. Theseteeth are formed in the sides of the case. At close intervals, from endto end, the metal is cut, as

shown in-Fig. 1, so that a vertical rectangular piece may be bentinwardly to form a forward facing tooth, 21, the teeth on one side beingalined respectively with those on the other.

It will be seen that the locking bars 16 engage, at each side, the edgesof one of these teeth, thus normally preventing backward movement of thefollower so that a rigid back is provided to keep cards or papers inproper upright position. When it is desired to move the follower back,to admit more cards or paper, or for other reasons, the handles aregrasped and pressed together. This withdraws the locking bars out ofengagement with the teeth and the follower may in consequence be movedback as far as desired, and release of the handles will cause thelocking bars to spring into normal locking position a ain. The teeth 21have relatively great vertical length so that, when engaged by therelatively wide locking bars 16, although provided out .of thin sheetmetal',gf:--they have proper strength for performingitheir functions. Atthe same time, the engagement of'the broad locking bars with these longverticallteeth gives a contact of considerable l ehgth so that the slidefollower maintains its proper vertical position under pressure of thecontents of the cases-i"v 'Above and below the row of teeth on each sidethe metal of the side member 11 ispunched inwardly to form longitudinalribs 22 which extend inwardly slightly farther than do the teeth 21.These ribs serve as a strengthening element for the case. They alsoprovide means for keeping the slide follower body and the case contactsaway from the teeth. When the slide follower is moved backward in thecase, if it happens to be slightly to one side or the other of thecenter, it will engage the ribs and consequently its movement is nothindered by catching on the teeth. Similarly, the edges of the paper orcards engage the "ribs on either side and are prevented from becomingcaught on the teeth or jammed up'in'to the corners of the same andconsequently torn.

The slide follower, for purposes hereinafter more particularly setforth, is readily metal.

jomy in manufacture] and quickly removable. It will be seen that it isheld in place by no catches, locking members or other fasteningelements, the locking connection between the follower and the teeth ofthe case being directed toward sliding movement of the follower in thecase. There is nothing therefore to prevent the ready and quick removalof the follower merely by grasping it and withdrawing it from the case.The upper ribs 22 offer no ;obstruction as the spring pressed locking ofcarrying on the filing system through saving in timev and labor; and inamount of space utilized.

' As to cost of manufacture, it will be seen that a case constructed inaccordance with my invention may be produced with the utmost economy. Itis constructed of thin sheetmetal, such as tin-,so that the materialcosts little and at the same time no strength or effectivenessis'sacrificed. The parts arev put together to form the case without thenecessity of utilizing extra fastening parts or employing time and laborinvolving soldering processes.

The locking teeth are formed,in a very simple nann'er, in the sides ofthe case itself. The slide follower and its supporting foot are formedfrom thin sheet metal also and are of extremely simple construc'tion.locking bars are pieces punched out of the metal of the follower andthebars and their The staples which embrace the handles are simple anglestrips'of thin sheet It will be seen, therefore, that the constructionthroughout is of great simplicity, devoid of a number'of extra andintricate parts, all of which goes to make econ- The saving in time,labor and space utilized is of particular importance where the filingsystem embraces both liveland dead storage of large quantities of cardsor papers.

In systems using filing cases as heretofore known the procedure has beensomething as follows: As more and more cards or papers;

are added to one case the follower is moved farther and farther backuntil the case is full. When this particular lot becomes dead the cardsare removed, wrapped up, labeled and stored away. If papers instead ofcards are involved, pasteboard ends or other reinforcement is ordinarilyused. The

case is then put back for live work. It may be that frequent searchesare necessary through the dead files. After the proper package islocated it must'be unwrapped and subsequently rewrapped. All thisprocedure entails time and labor and other expense that may beimmaterial when only a small number of cards or papers are involved; butincrease in this amount increases these expenses and other objectionablefeatures, until in systems where perhaps fifty thousand cards or papersare filed each day the time, labor and material items become extremelyburdensome.

- When cases embodying my invention are used in such a system muchofthis cost oftime, labor and materials is done away with. When a caseis filled and ready for dead storage, the slide follower is removed asbethem up and marking them. Searches are conducted very quickly andeasily as the first card or paper in a case may be recognized foredescribed and the case is then stored; away. There is no time, labor andexpense involved in removing the papers, wrapping by means of the cutaway portion of the front and after the proper case is located thesought for card or paper is readily and quickly found. When the contentsof a case can be destroyed the case is again available for a repetitionof the procedure described. But notwithstanding. t e fact that a casemay be used for a long time for dead storage the case itself can bemanufactured so cheaply that there is a decided saving.

It will be noted that there is no structural connection between the caseand the slide follower so that they can be produced separately. deadcategory the follower is removed and placed in another case for (livefiling.

Consequently, no matter howmany hundred or thousand cases are used, itis necessary to have only enough followers for the live cases. V

Another great saving is effected by the use of my cases because theyoccupy a: minimum amount 'ofspace. They are light, compact and made ofthin sheet metal. As the bot- 7 tom, sides andrear end are planesurfaces, 45

forming a simple rectangular box, with no. protruding parts, the casemay be inserted,

in the nature of a drawer, in pigeonholesoccupying minimum amount ofspace, or'a number of cases may be placed side by side pact relation.

and one on top of another in extremely com-' It is to be understood thatthe lists filing cases just outlined are chosenymerely by way ofillustration and that they may be used in various systems and proceduresequally well.

Having thus described Letters Patent is;v v

1. A thin sheet metal filing andfstorage case for cards, papers and thelike, having an open portion in the front end to expose the identifyingdata on the first .card or paper in the case, longitudinal raised ribson the inside of the two opposite sides of the When the case is placedinthelongitudinally extendin projecting teeth punche my invention what Iclaim as new and desire to secure by case, a row of 'inwardly'andforwardly projecting teeth punched from the metal of the side of thecasevand located between said longitudinal ribs, a'thin sheet metaladjustably movable slide follower having punched out portions thereinforming staples, and slidable locking bars embraced by said staples forengaging said teeth.

2. A thin sheet metal filing and storage case for various papers and thelike having longitudinal raised ribs on the insideof two 3. A filingcase having a longitudinally extending row of teeth projecting inwardlyfrom the sides of the case and having a longitudinally extending raisedrib adjacent said row of teeth and extending alongside thereof forpreventing papers from getting caught in said teeth, and a verticallyarranged slide follower movable in said case having a latch forselective engagement with said teeth, said latch being withdrawableinwardly far enough to permit the follower to lie-lifted verticallyupward out of said case.

4. A thin sheet metal filing case having a row of inwardly from themetal of the sides of the case and-having a longitudinally extendin ribadjacent said row of teeth and exten ing alongside thereof stamped fromthe side of the case for pre venting papers from getting caught in saidteeth, and a slide follower movable in said case having a latch forselective engagement with saidteeth.

5. Afiling case having sheet metal sides having a row of teeth from themetal of the sides, each of said teeth having an elongated edge, afollower movable in said casing and two slides nonrotatably mounted onsaid follower, each ofsaid slides having-a broad portion'for engagementwith said elongated edge to prevent tipping of the follower.

6. A filing case having sheet metal sides having a row of teeth punchedinwardly from the metal of 'the sides, each of said teeth having .an'elongated edge, a sheet metal follower movable in said case andhavingtwo strips struck up therefrom, two broad sheet metal slides eachslidable in one of said strips and having a broad portion for engagementwith said elongated edge to prevent tipping of the follower,

punched inwardly 7. An elongated sheet metal filing case having alongitudinally extending row of teeth on each of the two vertical sidesof the case, said teeth being vertically elongated, asheet metalremovable vertical slide follower adjustable longitudinally between saidsides to any position in said case, said follower carrying broad-facedlatching members corresponding to said teeth and engageable therewith oneither side of the case to hold it Vertically and in any positionlongitudinally to which it may be adjusted, said latch members beingwithdrawable from said teeth and sides sufficiently to perniit thefollower to be readily lifted vertically upward out of the case, andrearwardly extending thumb and finger grips on said latch members forreadily operating the latter for adjusting-the follower longitudinallyin the case and for lifting it out of or placing it in the case, thelower edge of said follower extending slightly rearward to form asupporting foot slida-ble along the bottom of said case.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

SILAS E. WEBBER.

